Speaking for Saturday's edition of the Austrian daily Kleine Zeitung, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa has expressed his expectation that Austria will "put in to practice the rulings of its Constitutional Court" on bilingual sings.
Jansa stressed that he welcomes "the efforts made by the Austrian government to solve the issue" and that Slovenia is aware of the "delicacy" the issue of bilingual sings presents especially in Carinthia, which has much to do with the "specific political situation" in this Austrian province, according to the PM.
Jansa added that even though the Slovenian minority has been waiting for a solution for a long time, he hopes that "the new Austrian government will - in line with constitutional court rulings - find a way to settle the issue in a way that will not lead to new tensions between the majority in minority in Carinthia".
As regards the latest proposal of the Austrian government, Jansa said that he believes "it is a step in the right direction, provided that the possibility is given to add bilingual sings later".
Asked whether he has been given any assurances in this regard by the Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Jansa said that Schuessel was "a realistic politician". "He will know what to do to gain support in the parliament and relevant committees. He is a friend of the minority," Jansa commented.
Touching on the German-speaking population in Slovenia Jansa said he saw no reason that it should not be helped. He added however that it was "not realistic to expect that the Slovenian parliament would grant this minority a directly elected MP, like it does in the cases of the Hungarian and Italian minorities".
Asked whether he is bothered by the fact that some call him "the Slovenian Haider", Jansa noted that "former communists label all who do not share their ideas as fascists or less harshly compare them to Haider".
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